Fresh Ideas

This is the view I have while blogging in my sister's office in her Napa home.  Ahhhh.

And this vineyard is what I see looking in another direction.  Can you stand it???  Her place is surrounded by vineyards, but she owns none of them...we get to enjoy them without breaking our backs,  working in them. 

It's no wonder my creativity has been inspired in such a place.  It's just me and husband here for the weekend, each mostly doing our own thing whether it is swimming in the pool, watching a movie or listening to music. 

This home is about twice the size of our condo so we love to spread out while here.  It's amazing what floats through my brain as I float on the pool!

Today's news is that I'm dreaming up a fresh idea for RockerJewlz designs that is very new and way beyond what I've been doing.  It's amazing that a bitty blob of cake with some frosting and decorations on it could inspire me to think in so 

many new ways.

I can barely stand keeping it a secret...which makes it even more exciting as it rolls around in my head, ever evolving towards its completion.  Say prayers for me, or chant, or howl at the moon...whatever method you use to send positive thoughts my way is appreciated no matter what the form!

To be continued...

A Great Day

This is the big flag hanging above our back yard. New and crisp, just in time for the Fourth of July.

Our wedding anniversary was on Friday, but we saved celebrating until Saturday since we could be together all day. We needed to make a morning run to our favorite old fashioned neighborhood hardware store and since it's right around the corner from our favorite breakfast diner, we stopped first for a meal...y-u-u-m!

Then we were off to the first showing of the morning for "Star Trek" and discovered that the movie theater shaves $4.50 off full price tickets if you attend that early bird showing...yahoo, $9 saved! That covered one of the breakfasts...right ON.

The movie was good, but I still prefer "X-men origins: Wolverine". Star Trek was on a big scale and sci-fi, no matter how good, always loses a little in the translation for me. Wolverine was smaller, more intimate and much more focused on one character than a large cast. And Hugh Jackman looked incredible and moved beautifully so that wins out for me!.

We got home at 1 pm and put a 2nd umbrella up to cool our very hot brick patio and were just about to decide what to do for the rest of the day...when my sis called (mom to our sweet 3 1/2 year old nephew/godson) to say that one of our brothers was near her house for a visit and could we come up for an impromptu barbecue.

Yahoo, you bet! She's only a little over an hour away, so we were off to Napa. These vineyards are visible from her kitchen deck. They surround her on 2 sides but belong to a neighbor, so it's like she has vineyards but doesn't have to tend them...very cool.

I played and played with my nephew for hours, had dinner, yacked for about an hour and then said goodbye before his bedtime. He came running to me with arms out, calling my name and gave me a rare squeezy hug...he usually puts his arms around me but doesn't squeeze. Well this time he did and after I said "I love you" he said "I love you TOO". That "too" was a new concept he's recently begun to understood....and all the other adults said "ooohhhh" in unexpected unison...how sweet that was.

As we drove home on the freeway, we got to see a surprise mini, illegal firework display as the night sky was darkening. That was fabulous! What a great end to a great day. So, 26 years married and 32 years together, here is what we looked like a few months after we met. Hubby was taking a photography class so he took my photo and I took his...they both turned out pretty darned great!

My next entry will be photos of my next Summer Special beach themed bracelet so don't stay away long!

Comfort & Fab Fibers

Check out this wonderful giveaway for some amazing beads from Blu Healer Glass that Fab Fibers is sponsoring by clicking "Fab Fibers".

Had a cup of coffee with my sweet friend, Lisa, today. Hadn't seen her in several months and she had ordered a pair of my Signature earrings and wanted to peek at some cupcake jewelry. I made it fun for her and took my entire container of cupcake beads for her to "shop" through...thought it would be a lot more fun than just looking on line! It was so nice to chat about families and get generally caught up on what we are doing. We need to do it more often, but doesn't that always seem to be the case?

I get to see my other friend, V, next week for lunch and a movie. Wolverine, baby! I could use a tough Hugh Jackman fix. I've seen him recently on quite a few talk shows and he looks so clean and is funny and sweet and glorious to look at, but he is NOT Wolverine in real life...funny, that. I need his gritty, clawing side. Yum.

So we finally got a new umbrella since the previous one was comPLETEly thrashed. Our local hardware store had this 9 footer for $49! It's not the heavy duty canvas type (which cost 3x as much) but it cranks open which I like and it can be angled. If we keep our bricks cool and shady, it helps keep the bottom floor icy cool in hot weather. Isn't it pretty here with our bistro table & chairs and the jasmine vine in the background. Nice!

I will be visiting my Godson in Napa next week, so I'm not sure when I'll post next, but be assured, there is my friend's surprise bracelet yet to show you (think Paris colors: pink, black & white) and I should have a new piece assembled by then for you to purchase as well.

Stay cool.

Secret Treasures

Just a drive by here to show you a couple of my cupcake Christmas gifts...a set of resin cupcake magnets which I could really use to make my fridge look a whole lot better and a pair of Wal-Mart's Secret Treasures cupcake pajamas in purple!

I'm wearing them as I type this and they are incredibly soft and incredibly cheap, only $8.50 on sale as well as the nightgown style...also available in red.

They feel like a super thin, super soft fleece. Really nice and the sizes are true but if you dry your laundry in the dryer rather than on the line like I do, I'd go a size up.

Had a fabulous Christmas holiday. I co-hosted celebrations for 2 of my sisters but didn't have to prep my own house...now THAT's the way to do it! Spent several days in Napa for the holiday, very mellow and easy going. Really nice. Had rain and wind on Christmas Eve but Christmas day was cold, bright and crisp.

Drove home the day after and am now in the midst of my husband's 9 day vacation...what a treat! My goal for the new year is to clean out bead bins for plenty of jewelry for you and to focus more on my drawings and sketches to create note cards, bookmarks and art pieces for my MomsArt shop on Etsy.

So until 2009, Happy New Year!

My 100th post!

Yay, I'm posting less than a week since my previous entry! Made that a goal to keep you all entertained and so far so good. And my reward is that this is my 100th post. Now that's a good omen. I added a visitor counter on July 4th. You can see it at the very bottom of the blog page and in 45 days I've had 187 visitors...not a lot, but I'm just glad people are coming.

Custom bead news following this story:

My husband and I were able to spend a 3 day weekend in Napa with our godson (photo at left of neighborhood cafe) who is two and a half and talking up a storm. He understands concepts now so his reactions and humor are absolute entertainment. A sweet and happy soul with a smile always at the ready along with kisses and hugs upon request!

Sis and her husband were out of town for the historic car races in Monterey...are you aware of these races? Old, old cars built for racing long ago are maintained (with large wads of cash, no doubt) for racing condition! Wouldn't it be something to see them whipping around the track? Sis takes their camper and hunkers down for 2 nights right at the track...wow!

Must be great, but what me and my husband needed was peace and quiet and that's what we got in the midst of huge oak trees surrounding house and pool just above a small vineyard surrounded by hills. Wow was it ever quiet. We did a little snoozing, lots of laughing, and slowly, slowly got our godson to swim.

It was wonderful that he trusted me enough to rest his body on just one of my arms while he flailed feet and legs to catch the big rubber ducky. What a bold one...of course, it took about an hour to go from just feet in the pool and refusals to step down to lower steps to full on swimming...but he got there. One final grab by me when he looked very confident and he let out one big scream....and then had a blast.

On the jewelry front I'm having a couple of spectular custom lampwork glass beads designed as pendants...won't tell you by whom yet as I don't want to create any pressure, but one is a harlequin mask...white face, teardrops from the eyes and an elaborate wavy collar in black and red...nice!

I was also inspired to request a hot air balloon bead after seeing the big balloon upon which Sarah Brightman sang in the Olympic opening ceremony. The balloon bead will be golden yellow with blue Kronos glass as the basket...and you'll seem some Kronos spikes on the balloon as well. Remind to show them to you after I receive them in a few weeks.

I've been reminded that the glass birds (photo above) from the Green Glass Cafe are big sellers in jewelry so I will be working on those designs this week...birdie pendants...yum! The bird pictured here is one of several different styles and color combinations I have.

Golden Friends

My newest friend, Sandy, is so good to me. She's helping me improve and expand my Etsy business by sharing ideas of products and supplies, and I am deeply grateful.

To the left is one of her fun notions...lots and lots of stickers! You can see more of her very unique goodies at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5255885.

I love this color and shape combination. It's so much fun for an amazing price, and it's all hand punched.

I've added more color combos of cupcake confetti to my shops as well as a textured cardstock in bright colors to play against the original smooth pastel paper.

Lastly, Marianna requested more photos of my Napa weekend. So here you see beautiful purple vincas at the base of a stand of cypress trees that line the walk down to the barn. The hills behind are part of the small valley. Neighbors are just far enough away to not intrude but close enough to signal for help if you need it!

Apple blossoms are next and then a new kite we flew, fresh out of the box.

Sorry I didn't have more landscape shots. They are saved on the computer in Napa and I forgot to take my flash drive to copy them.